S 
520 THE GRASS FAMILY. 
XVI. CALAMAGROSTIS. SMALLREED. : 
Tall grasses, with a more or less open panicle, and numerous 1- flowered 
spikelets. Outer glumes nearly equal, keeled and pointed. Flowering 
glume much smaller, very thin, with a very slender and short, hair-like, — 
straight awn on its back, and a tuft of long silky hairs at its base, on 
the axis of the spikelet. Palea usually smaller. 
A considerable genus, widely distributed over the elobe! formerly 
united with Arundo, from which it is distinguished chiefly by the 1- 
flowered spikelets. 
Hairs within the spikelet longer than the flowering glume. 
Spikelets nearly 3 lines long, crowded in a narrow panicle. 
Outer glumes very narrow, almost subulate . 1. C. Epigeios. 
Spikelets about 2 lines long, in a loose panicle. Outer elumes 
narrow-lanceolate ‘ . 2 C. lanceolata. 
Hairs within the spikelet shorter than the flowering elume é ee. Cs striata. 
1. C. Epigeios, Roth. (fig. 1189). Wood S.—Rootstock creeping. 
Stems 3 or 4 feet high, erect, and rather firm, with long, narrow, some- 
what glaucous leaves. Panicle branched, but not spreading, except 
whilst in full flower, from a few inches to near a foot long, with 
numerous crowded spikelets, often assuming a purplish tint. Outer 
glumes very narrow-lanceolate and pointed, almost subulate, both 
nearly 3 lines long. Flowering glume thin, its awn very short and 
slender, inserted some way from the top, and scarcely distinguishable 
from the long silky hairs which envelop the flower. 
In moist, open places in woods and thickets, and amongst bushes, 
spread over the greater part of Hurope and temperate Asia from the 
Mediterranean to the Arctic regions. Abundant in some parts of 
southern England, but not generally common, and rare in Scotland and 
Ireland. Fl. summer. 
2. C. lanceolata, Roth. (fig. 1190). Purple S.—A tall grass, like the 
last, and not always readily distinguished from it. It is usually more 
slender, with flat flaccid leaves. Panicle much looser, 5 or 6 inches 
long, with slender branches, and more often assuming a shining purple 
colour. Outer glumes about 2 or sometimes 24 lines long, narrow- 
lanceolate, but broader than in C. Epigeios. Flowering glume nearly 
as in that species, but the awn is inserted close to the cleft summit. 
In moist woods, and shady places, in northern and central Europe, 
and Russian Asia, from the Alps to the Arctic regions. Dispersed 
over several parts of England, and unknown in Ireland or Scotland. 
Fl. summer... 
3. C. stricta, Nutt. (fig. 1191). Narrow S.—A more erect plant than 
C. lanceolata, 14, to 3 feet high, with stiffer, narrow leaves. Panicle very 
narrow, 4 to 6 inches long. Spikelets smaller than in the last species, 
the outer glumes broader. Hairs of the axis considerably shorter 
than the following glume, which has an awn inserted rather below 
the middle, and reaching to about its own length. There is also at 
the base of the palea a rudimentary prolongation of the axis, in the. 
shape of a minute bristle, with a tuft of hairs. In this respect, as in- 
the shortness of the hairs of the axis, it approaches Deyeuxia, to which 
genus it is referred by some botanists, as D. neglecta, Kunth. 
In bogs and marshes, in northern and Arctic Europe, Asia, and 
America, not reaching southward of northern Germany. Very rare in 
